No matter the circumstances, no matter the situation, people living in South Jersey have a wealth of resources for qualified legal counsel and representation. The challenge comes in finding the right attorney to help one navigate the always-changing, sometimes-choppy waters of the U.S. legal system.

We’re here to help. Thousands or South Jersey Magazine readers visited SouthJersey.com to cast their vote for 151 specialists in 46 categories, ranging from Family Law to Workers Compensation. On the following pages, meet many of the area’s top attorneys who are fulfilling the legal needs of South Jersey and read on for a full listing of Awesome Attorneys.

Yasmeen S. KhaleelCapehart & Scatchard
Expertise: Estate Law
Years Practicing: 16
Law School: Seton Hall University School of Law (JD); Temple University (LLM)
How many times did it take for you to pass the bar?
Just once thankfully.
Tell us your favorite client story.
The best client files are the ones with the most challenges which draw you in like a good mystery or where you can see the positive results of your efforts. That being said, I do remember with fondness a transactional file that required multiple trips to a local commercial bakery. Every time I went to their offices, the client would have her staff fill my car with the most delicious cakes and pastries.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
Al Dente Italiana unless I am with my kids in which case it is Chick-Fil-A.
What type of challenges do you frequently face in your area of expertise?
In the context of estate administrations and related litigation, the most frequent challenge is the overwhelming influence of grief and fractured family relationships.
What is your New Year’s resolution?
To not make a New Year’s resolution!

Emmanuel J. Argentieri
Parker McCay P.A.
Expertise: Creditor’s Rights/Bankruptcy
Years Practicing: 21
Law School: Widener University School of Law
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
I wanted to be the first person in my family to attain a graduate degree and I thought that being a lawyer would maximize my skill set I developed during my education.
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Learn to “think like a lawyer” in law school but be cognizant of the fact that the law profession is a business. You need to focus on developing your business skills to be a well-rounded and successful attorney.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ___________.
Boardwalk Empire.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
Either a professional baseball or football player or a chef.

Lora M. FoleyFirm: Parker McCay
Expertise: Medical Malpractice Defense
Years Practicing: 17
Law School: Tulane University School of Law
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
From as early as the age of 2, my parents told me that I should be a lawyer. I suspect that it was my love for all forms of verbal communication i.e. talking, reasoning, arguing and singing. As my beloved grandmother Mom Mom often said, I have “the gift of gab.” As I grew older, I decided that it would be a good thing to have a career that would allow me to do what I love most - talk.
Tell us your favorite client story.
My story involves a pro bono matter to which I was assigned early in my career. It involved an appeal of a conviction of driving on the revoked list. My client claimed that he was impersonated. He could not have been driving the car in question as he was in North Carolina at the time. During the hearing, the prosecution presented testimony of the police officer who made the traffic stop. The testimony included a description of my client’s height. In a shear stoke of brilliance, my client leaned over the recording microphone and loudly exclaimed, “He is lying. I didn’t get out of the car.” Unfortunately, his comment was heard by everyone in the court room. Needless to say, he lost his appeal. Incredibly, my client was irate at the ruling and exclaimed that, “the man is out to get me.”
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
Playing with my 5 year old son, drinking red wine and eating dark chocolate.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
Talk show host.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is ______.
“Sugaree” by the Grateful Dead. My favorite new song is “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5.

Robert W. Bucknam Jr.Archer & Greiner, P.C.
Expertise: Land Use Law and Environmental Permitting
Years Practicing: 27
Law School: Villanova University School of Law
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
Watching lawyers in the media and on shows such as Perry Mason probably played some role in inspiring me to become a lawyer. However, I found the overall desire to help people solve their problems or to assist them in obtaining their goals or objective even more inspirational.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ___________.
Boardwalk Empire, probably because I grew up and live in Atlantic County.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
Bistro Di Marino in Collingswood
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
Playing golf and collecting and drinking good wine.
What type of challenges do you frequently face in your area of expertise?
Being faced with trying to achieve a result or accomplish something for a client that either appears to be too difficult to achieve or accomplish, or has never been done before. It is extremely rewarding for everyone involved when you are able to make the impossible possible!
What is your New Year’s resolution?
To spend more time with my wife, Kathy, and our family, and to continue to try to help others who are not in the position to help themselves.

Dana E. BookbinderBegley Law Group, P.C.
Expertise: Elder Law and Estate Planning
Years Practicing: 15
Law School: The George Washington University Law School
What inspired you to become an attorney?
When my own grandparents became elderly, I saw a great need for accurate information on care options, estate planning, and available financial assistance.
Tell us your favorite client story.
I enjoy being an advocate for seniors who don’t have a strong voice in the system. I get special satisfaction from protecting clients and keeping their homes within the family.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
Piano, biking, intense ping-pong matches against my husband, playing with the kids, attempting new recipes with friends
What is your New Year’s resolution?
Finding more time for me—as well as everyone else (and beating my husband in ping-pong)
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
A dentist because I like seeing smiles

John M. DodigFeldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock & Dodig
Expertise: Personal injury
Years Practicing: Twenty-four
Law School: Nova School of Law
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Try to become exposed to as many different areas of the law as possible before you graduate. And you can do that by working in the summer, getting internships, and clerking.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ___________.
Anderson Copper 360
Tell us your favorite client story?
One of my most rewarding cases began with a client who was catastrophically injured in a motor vehicle accident. He contacted me just before the statute of limitations expired on his case, which had been turned down by several other firms. After investigating his claim, we recognized a theory that hadn’t been picked up, and obtained an eight figure jury verdict for him and his family. The verdict allowed my client to completely rebuild his life.
What types of challenges to you frequently face in your area of expertise?
The toughest challenge I face on a day to day basis is having to tell some of the people who want me to represent them that even though a terrible thing happened to them, their injury wasn’t caused by the wrongful conduct of another party, and that it wouldn’t be responsible to file a lawsuit on their behalf.
If you could have been anything besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
My dream was to play professional baseball. Law was my second choice.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is ___________.
Bruce Springsteen.

Kathryn LaughlinRussell & Laughlin, P.A.
Expertise: Family Law
Years Practicing: 10 Years
Law School: Widener University School of Law
What’s the most rewarding part of your profession?
Since I practice in family law, it is knowing that I am making a difference in people’s lives.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ________.
Squawk Box on CNBC.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
Caffé Aldo Lamberti [in Cherry Hill] or Knife & Fork [in Atlantic City].
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
Travelling.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
I would have been a writer.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is _____.
Adele.

Joseph TestaAdinolfi & Goldstein
Expertise: Family Law
Years Practicing: 40
Law School: University of Mississippi
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
I decided that I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps who was an attorney at the time. I later knew while attending law school that I would strive after graduation to become a judge. I did not know at that time that my dad would later also become a family court judge.
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Take as many clinical courses and internships as possible
What’s the most rewarding part of your profession?
Helping children indirectly through their parents… by getting parents to focus foremost on their children, it helps remove them from the middle of these contentious divorce and custody battles. It also lets the children know they are not forgotten!
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
Giumarello’s Restaurant in Westmont.
What is your New Year’s resolution?
To make Kidscount Program, a program to help children of divorce and separation, a reality in New Jersey again statewide.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
A pediatrician
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is _______.
Michael Buble.

Barbara A. CaseyBallard Spahr LLP
Expertise: Real Estate Law
Years Practicing: 26
Law School: Rutgers University School of Law—Camden
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
My Uncle Joe was a surrogate father to me growing up and he always told me I could be anything I wanted [back in the 1960s that was not the typical message given to young women]. I loved Perry Mason TV shows and started talking about being a lawyer at the age of 6 (with no real idea of what that meant). After a detour as an Economist for Cincinnati Bell in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I left Bell and went to law school. The rest is history.
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Follow your passion. If you enjoy a special area, like languages, sciences, accounting, major in that in college and then parlay that into a legal career. You spend too much time working these days to not enjoy what you do.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is _____________.
Any CSI, NCIS and my two new favorites, Mike and Molly (you have to love all the secondary characters in that show, even the dog!) and Person of Interest.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
The Library on Route 73 in Voorhees. The salad bar is to die for.
What type of challenges do you frequently face in your area of expertise?
I deal frequently with parties that interject emotion into the matter. Facts and emotion do not always mix. These current economic times and the fact that many transactions today are fueled by financial distress, brings emotion into even the commercial transactions today. Negotiating objective terms into an emotionally charged atmosphere does not always result in a meeting of the minds.

Michael BergerAndres & Berger
Expertise: Medical Malpractice
Years Practicing: 37
Law School: George Washington University
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
I wanted to be a lawyer since junior high school. I was inspired by activist lawyers who championed social change.
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Hard work paves the road to success.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ______.
Hardball with Chris Matthews.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
I just started guitar lessons. The blues kill me.
What is your New Year’s resolution?
Not to lose my fastball.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is _____.
The Healer by John Lee Hooker.

Stephen P. DeNittisShabel & DeNittis, P.C.
Expertise: Personal Inury Law
Years Practicing: 14 years
Law School: Widener University School of Law
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Don’t forget your real world experience, be humble and never underestimate your adversary.
Tell us your favorite client story.
I’m sitting with my client, a severely disabled construction worker, at counsel table when the jury entered a million dollar verdict and seeing his eyes well up with tears; and a second, when a Federal Court in New York ruled that I be appointed as lead class counsel to represent a class of 176,000 people who were defrauded by a company into purchasing a bogus coin commemorating the 9/11 World Trade Center Tragedy.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ______.
Entourage, Eagles games and Real Housewives (don’t ask!).
What type of challenges do you frequently face in your area of expertise?
Lawyers at big firms doing everything in their power to prevent me from winning.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is ______.
Believe it or not I don’t own one. I do listen to my wife’s. My favorite on hers is U2.

Thomas D. Begley IIICapehart & Scatchard, P.A.
Expertise: Business Law
Years Practicing: 21
Law School: Georgetown University Law Center
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
Watching my grandfather, father and uncle engaged in a profession in which they were not only able to make a good living, but enrich the lives of their clients as well.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is _____.
The Mentalist.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
The Capital Grille.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
Spending time with my family, reading and playing guitar.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
A teacher.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is _______.
Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Richard KleinBecker Meisel, LLC
Expertise: Family/Matrimonial Law
Years Practicing: 38
Law School: Rutgers Law School-Camden
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
I always enjoyed the combination of problem solving and soon realized the importance of conflict resolution.
How many times did it take for you to pass the bar?
Thankfully only one.
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Enjoy the ride…law school should be great fun in learning to think like an attorney. Then, be prepared to do all that you can to enhance the profession.
Tell us your favorite client story.
My favorite story is every case where a client comes in feeling hopelessness and despair and leaves realizing that the future is still with their control. That and the case where the last remaining issue was who gets the dog so we went on a Saturday to a football field with the judge with each client on opposite goal lines. The dog went to the 50 yard line and whomever it ran to got the dog! Justice at its finest.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is _________.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
Nunzio’s in Collingswood with a great bottle of wine.

Jerold E. RothkoffLaw Offices of Jerold E. Rothkoff
Expertise: Elder & Disability Law
Years Practicing: 18 years
Law School: Widener University School of Law
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Whatever you do, follow your passion. Without a passion for what you do, the practice of law becomes just another job.
Tell us your favorite client story.
Several years ago, I represented an elderly woman who was denied expensive lung surgery under Medicare. The client stated to me she wanted the surgery in order to be healthy enough to visit her grandchildren who lived out of state. We were successful in our appeal requiring Medicare to cover the surgery. Unfortunately, a few days before the surgery was scheduled, the client passed away. I subsequently received the kindest thank you note from her daughter which I keep in my desk to this day.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
Spending time in the Poconos with my wife, our five children and five dogs.
What type of challenges do you frequently face in your area of expertise?
Elder and Disability Law is a constantly changing area of law. I spend a great deal of time at seminars and speaking with other attorneys staying current on ever changing Medicare, Medicaid, and tax laws.
What is your New Year’s resolution?
To take our 16-month-old son to his first Phillies game.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
I love weather, so I would have been a meteorologist.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is _______.
It could only be one answer—Bruce Springsteen.

Steven PetrilloPetrillo & Goldberg, P.C.
Expertise: Personal Injury Law
Years Practicing: 28
Law School: Boston College/RutgersUniversity-Camden
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
Judd for the Defense – an old television show.
How many times did it take for you to pass the bar?
One
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
If you don’t love it, leave it.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
A teacher
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is ________.
I don’t own one – I’m a dinosaur.

Stephen M. GreenbergFlaster/Greenberg P.C.
Expertise: Health and Administrative Law
Years Practicing: 35
Law School: Yale University
What’s the most rewarding part of your profession?
The personal and professional relationships I develop when I serve as general counsel to closely held companies.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
Golf and skiing.
What type of challenges do you frequently face in your area of expertise?
Normal, expected business practices are often not permitted in the area of health care.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
An astronaut.

John D. RothamelRothamel Bratton
Expertise: Real Estate Law
Years Practicing: 4
Law School: Widener University School of Law
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
I’ve always enjoyed breaking down a dispute and reviewing each side to an argument. A good lawyer understands that there are usually more than two sides to a story, and it’s that attorney’s job to digest all pieces of the puzzle and put them back together into a picture that best suits his client.
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Law school is more about teaching you how to think than how to practice law. Once you have a degree, you learn a new world of information while studying for the Bar Exam. Once the exam is behind you, becoming a good attorney is about understanding people and attempting to view disputes from numerous vantage points, then finding a path that works for all parties. The best attorneys learn much more from actually practicing law than they could from a text book.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ________.
The Office.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
You’d probably find me with friends, family, and lots of wine, enjoying the best pizza in South Jersey at Tacconelli’s Pizzeria.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
You will find me on the golf course as much as possible, but I also enjoy boating from spot to spot in LBI.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
I’d be a bartender at a tiki bar in the Caribbean.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is ________.
Anything by Bob Marley, Jimmy Buffett or Jack Johnson. They help keep my toes in the sand while winter approaches.

Richard Klineburger IIIFirm: Klineburger & Nussey
Expertise: Criminal Law
Years Practicing: 16
Law School: Temple University Beasley School of Law
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
I grew up in a row home in the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia where there would be arguments and disagreements amongst my friends and neighbors on a daily basis over everything from whether it was “gravy or sauce” to whether Frank Rizzo should be made Mayor of Philadelphia emeritus. During this time, I was lucky enough to attend a small parochial school which made forensics a very important part of the curriculum. By the time I was in sixth grade, I came to enjoy the debates and need to think quickly on my feet in order to express my point in a reasonable and concise manner. It was around this time that I remember watching the movies “The Verdict” with Paul Newman as well as “And Justice for All” with Al Pacino and thinking to myself “that seems like a great way to make a living.” From that point forward I always knew that I wanted to be a litigator and was lucky enough to begin working in the Philadelphia Court system at the age of 18 as an intern family court representative where I would present reports to attorneys and judges on a daily basis. To this day I find it a true privilege to be an attorney and credit my upbringing for allowing me to achieve my goals. Being able to handle the variety of cases never makes for a dull moment. I do not ever see myself retiring and look forward to being in the courtroom for many years to come.
Tell us your favorite client story.
My favorite client story is also my greatest accomplishment as an attorney. I represented an individual who was accused of murdering his infant son. Prior to becoming my becoming involved in the case, he had three prior attorneys all of whom instructed him to take a deal since they refused to move forward to Trial with his case. I heard about this case through other attorneys in Salem County and notified the Office of the Public Defender that I would be willing to represent this individual as a pool attorney since they were having a difficult time finding someone to represent him through Trial. I had less than six weeks to prepare and during that time, I realized that there were many errors made during the police investigation as well as through the medical examiner’s office. The Trial ended in a hung jury. The State elected to re-try the case and I was given ample time to properly prepare a defense for this individual. At the time, the Office of the Public Defender did not have it in their budget to pay the upfront costs for a medical expert which was needed. In order to properly protect my client I hired a neurologist from the University of Pennsylvania who agreed to charge me a reduced rate once he found out the circumstances behind the matter as well as the fact that I was paying for his services out of my own pocket. By the time this matter went through Pre-Trial Motions and I had an opportunity to cross-examine the police investigators and medical examiner with newly discovered evidence, the case was ultimately dismissed with prejudice and my client was released after three years in jail. During his time in jail, my client was given many opportunities to be released with a plea of Guilty to a lesser included offense and a Sentence of “time served” which would have ultimately allowed him to be released that same day. However, my client, despite knowing the risk of life imprisonment, placed his trust in me and insisted that he would never plea guilty to a crime that he did no commit. This case took up over ten weeks of my career, cost me thousands of dollars in lost fees and out of pocket expenses but earned me a lifetime of appreciation for the integrity of individuals who believe in the justice system despite the failures which led to their arrests.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at? Giumarello’s (…and even if I lose I go there to drown my sorrows in their aurora sauce!).
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
In the spring and summer I enjoy kayaking and going to Phillies games but come the fall through winter my number one past time is watching the Eagles. I also “attempt” to go to the gym at least four times a week.

Carlo ScaramellaLaw Offices of Carlo Scaramella, LLC
Expertise: Patent and Copyright Law
Years Practicing: 27
Law School: University of Pennsylvania Law School
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
I always enjoyed arguing with people and it seemed a good way to get paid to do what came naturally.
What’s the most rewarding part of your profession?
Long-term business clients become friends as well as clients.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
I just discovered Al Dente Italiana near the Moorestown Mall. Good food, nice atmosphere and good service.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
P90X and tennis.
What type of challenges do you frequently face in your area of expertise?
Opposing attorneys who do not fully understand Intellectual Property issues and either miss important issues or give their clients unhelpful advice.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
Astrophysics.

Judy CharnyCharny, Charny & Karpousis, PA
Expertise: Divorce and Family Law
Years Practicing: 25
Law School: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
To be honest, my parents gave me a choice of being a doctor or a lawyer and I chose an attorney because I was not very good at the sciences in school. I liked the idea of arguing in front of a Jury much better.
What’s the most rewarding part of your profession?
I like the fact that I have expertise to help people navigate a very difficult system.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ___________.
The Good Wife.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
I like to cook, eat and drink fantastic wine! I also work out, walk and bike ride. I like to spend time with my family travelling or doing almost anything. They are my best friends.
What type of challenges do you frequently face in your area of expertise?
People are very unhappy and it is very difficult to help them see the bright side of the situation.
If you could have been anything else besides a lawyer, what profession would you have chosen?
A chef.

Stephen M. PackmanArcher & Greiner P.C.
Expertise: Bankruptcy and Creditor’s Rights Law
Years Practicing: 23
Law School: Temple University
What’s the best advice you could give a law student?
Select an area of the law that keeps you engaged.
Tell us your favorite client story.
I had a client who decided to settle a case for much less during the middle of a hearing because he had to fly home in his helicopter and it was getting dark.
Fill in the blank. The TV show I never miss is ________.
Family Guy.
You just won a major ruling, what South Jersey restaurant are you celebrating at?
The ChopHouse.
What kind of hobbies do you enjoy to help unwind from the pressures of the job?
Play soccer or the drums.
What is your New Year’s resolution?
Try to be more benevolent.
Fill in the blank. The best thing on my iPod is _______.
Anything by Rush.

Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 9 (December, 2011).
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